I 
 
 CM ^'-" 
 *. 
 
 The Need of Quantitativ 
 
 in Applied Geology 
 
 By CHARLES H. WHITE 
 
 ods 
 
 MAY 9 1930 
 
 An address given before the San Francisco Section of 
 the American Institute of Mining- and Metallurgical Engineers 
 on March 6, 1921, and published in the Mining and Scientific 
 Press April 30, 1921. 
 
 
Additional copies of this paper may be obtained by addressing the 
 author at 788 Mills Building, San Francisco. 
 
The Need of Quantitative Methods 
 in Applied Geology 
 
 By CHARLES H. WHITE 
 
 Geology, like the other sciences, can be of service only to the 
 degree that its methods are exact. In other words, the useful- 
 ness of the science is measured by the precision of its technique. 
 
 The science of geology had its origin in the union of the 
 speculations of philosophy with the small body of facts regard- 
 ing rocks, ores, and other minerals accumulated in the course 
 of the winning of the metals and the useful minerals ; a union 
 of the a priori with the empirical. These two methods of 
 attack have come down to us from the time that man began to 
 make history, and, indeed, both are still extant, although 
 happily no longer of equal authority. According to the Scrip- 
 tures, while Tubal Cain was beating out useful implements of 
 brass, cosmic philosophers were expounding how "the land 
 was separated from the great deep ' ' and how ' ' the mountains 
 were brought forth." 
 
 In consequence of the production of silver from the mines at 
 Laurium, which have been worked frorn pre-historic time, Attic 
 philosophers were able to sit in.ili^r^x^ademic.lsiiades and dis- 
 course on the origin of fossils", volcanoes, and earthquakes. 1 
 
 Throughout the ages there -"have been^ '&$*3tw6 classes of 
 contributors to the stream of human knowledge. The one, out 
 of the operations of the brain alone, by sheer power of thought, 
 elucidates all manner of phenomena, whether terrestrial or celes- 
 tial, and all of man's relations to his environment, whether 
 temporal or eternal ; the other, working not only with the brain 
 but with the hands as well, carefully measures and tests and 
 proves by experiment as far as it is possible to do so the 
 truth or falsity of the hypothetical creations of the imagination. 
 
 1 While the mines at Laurium were the property of the State, their proceeds were dis- 
 tributed among the citizens after the ordinary expenses of government were paid. 
 
 731205 
 
The two methods of approach are well illustrated by a con- 
 troversy related by President Goodnow of Johns Hopkins Uni- 
 versity, which took place between two men, on the deck of 
 a steamer ploughing: through the Gulf Stream at night, regard- 
 ing the origin of the phosphorescent glow following the trail of 
 the propeller. One of them was a dignified devotee of pure 
 thought, and the other a grubbing student of zoology. When 
 the zoologist maintained that this fascinating trail of light was 
 due to myriads of a minute form of animal life, the reverend 
 gentleman replied in great astonishment that such a cause had 
 never occurred to him although he had given the subject a 
 great deal of thought. 
 
 All the physical sciences have come through the same strug- 
 gle. After centuries of thegropings of alchemy, chemistry had 
 its birth with the discovery of oxygen and the laws of constant 
 and multiple proportions, less than a hundred and fifty years 
 ago. A little more than a decade later James Hutton, a Scot, 
 published the first book on geology that had any semblance of 
 "organized common sense," to use Huxley's definition of 
 science. 
 
 Geology, then, as a science, can be said to be only about a 
 hundred years old. Since the days of Hutton there has been a 
 gradual emergence from the chaos of hypothetical dreams, al- 
 though in comparison with other sciences the rise seems extra - 
 ordinairly slow. Perhaps the reason for this lag behind the 
 other applied sciences is justifiable. Its problems, to us, seem 
 more profound. . Dataware sornetimes difficult and expensive 
 to obtain. The physician can easily test his theory, for he can 
 lay open his subject and view the results of his experiment ; but 
 erosion and the miner combined have only scratched the epider- 
 mis of the earth. The constitution of the sun is probably better 
 known than that of the interior of the earth. Even the topog- 
 raphy of the earth is not so well known as that of the side of 
 the moon which is turned toward us. Geology is not slow in 
 propounding problems, but she waits for chemistry, physics, 
 mineralogy, and paleontology to supply the tools with which to 
 solve them. 
 
 In the last twenty years geology has been far outdistanced by 
 
the other applied sciences. Compare, for example, the brilliant 
 step in surgery and medicine from Spanish War methods to 
 World War methods, or the rejuvenation of chemistry through 
 the discovery of radium and all its hopeful progeny. Other 
 examples of progress, while geology in comparision has slept, 
 are in locomotion and in the transmission of thought. In loco- 
 motion the methods of the early Egyptians have survived so 
 long that it is only in our day they have given way to the 
 electric car, the automobile, and the aeroplane ; and in the 
 transmission of thought I do not refer to the methods of Sir 
 Oliver Lodge we have communication by wire and by wireless. 
 
 To illustrate the slow development of the scientific method 
 in geology, let us take, for example, the subject of vulcanism, 
 the phenomena of which, perhaps, are the most striking of a 
 geological nature that interested early man and that were un- 
 doubtedly the most important to those who lived within the 
 danger zone of volcanoes. In spite of the general interest in 
 volcanoes and their very special importance to large groups of 
 people, surprisingly little is known of their origin or their 
 habits, and almost no progress has been made in foretelling 
 their behavior. 
 
 My first experience with volcanoes was at Vesuvius shortly 
 after the great eruption of April, 1906. The lava had pushed 
 its way down through the village of Bosco Trecase, tearing 
 asunder small residences, surrounding the larger buildings, and 
 covering the railroad to a depth of ten to fifteen feet. It had 
 only just solidified and was still too hot to walk upon. The 
 mountain could not be approached from that side, being well 
 guarded by both hot lava and a detachment of soldiers. I 
 drove around to the east side, to the town of Ottajano, where 
 guards were not so much in evidence. Here the volcanic ash 
 and lapilli had fallen to a depth of several feet. The great 
 weight of it on the roofs had carried many of them with all that 
 was in the house, including the dwellers, into the cellar. The 
 entire population, except a few guides and guards, was wholly 
 occupied in clearing the ash away from the vines and fruit- 
 trees, from the streets, and from the ruined houses in the effort 
 to recover their dead, so that I was able to slip out of the town 
 
unobserved and to climb unmolested and alone to the top of 
 Monte Somma. 
 
 From Monte Somma, which is the remnant of a greater pre- 
 historic Vesuvius, I could look across the Atrio del Cavallo, a 
 distance of about half a mile on a level line, to the active crater 
 of Vesuvius. Smoke and ashes were rising, now calmly and 
 majestically, and again violently and in greater volume. The 
 immense black cloud spreading- over the surrounding- country, 
 and condensing-, splashed the landscape with great drops of 
 mud. Such a sight for the first time is a remarkable stimulus 
 to the imagination. 
 
 The material ejected from the crater came down only in 
 splashes ; the unanswerable questions provoked by this awe- 
 inspiring spectacle came as a deluge. I was oppressed not only 
 by my own ignorance but by that of all mankind. Vesuvius 
 had received the attention of writers long before the Christian 
 era. Strabo had pronounced it a volcano before the time of 
 any known eruption and while it was still apparently extinct. 
 The first recorded eruption was that which destroyed Pompeii 
 in August 79 A.D. This was observed by Pliny the younger, 
 who, in letters to Tacitus, described certain of the events in con- 
 siderable detail, and in spite of the 1827 years of intervening 
 study of volcanoes between his visit and mine, he was appar- 
 ently about as competent to understand the phenomena as I 
 was. He, his mother, and his uncle, the elder Pliny, were .liv- 
 ing at Misenum, where his uncle was in command of the fleet. 
 Misenum is on a point on the west side of the Bay of Naples, 
 17 miles west of Vesuvius. In his letter Pliny writes : 2 " On 
 the 24th of August, about one in the afternoon, my mother 
 desired my uncle to observe a cloud which appeared of a very 
 unusual size and shape. . . . He immediately arose and 
 went out upon a rising ground from whence he might get a 
 better sight of this very uncommon appearance. A cloud . 
 was ascending, the appearance of which I cannot give you a 
 more exact description of than by likening it to that of a pine- 
 tree, for it shot up to a great height in the form of a very tall 
 trunk, which spread itself out at the top into a sort of branches, 
 
 2 Translation by William Melmoth, 
 
occasioned, I image, either by a sudden gust of air that im- 
 pelled it, the force of which decreased as it advanced upwards, 
 or the cloud itself being pressed back by its own weight, 
 expanded in the manner I have mentioned ; it appeared some- 
 times bright and sometimes dark and spotted, according as it 
 was either more or less impregnated with earth and cinders. 
 This phenomenon seemed to a man of such learning and 
 research as my uncle extraordinary and worth further looking 
 into." 
 
 He then described how his uncle, when about to set out in a 
 light vessel to cross over to observe the eruption, gets a message 
 from a friend that the towns on the shore at the foot of Vesu- 
 vius are in great danger, changes his mind, orders the galleys 
 to put to sea, and " what he had begun from a philosophical, 
 he now carries out in a noble and generous spirit." The 
 writer then depicts how as the ships approach the mountain 
 " the cinders, which grew thicker and hotter, fell into the ships 
 together with pumice-stones and black pieces of burning rock ; 
 they were in danger too of not only being aground by the sud- 
 den retreat of the sea but also from the vast fragments which 
 rolled down from the mountain and obstructed all the shore." 
 
 He follows with an account of his uncle's landing at Stabiae, 
 going for the night to the house of a friend, how stones and 
 ashes fell on the houses at such a rate that fearing they would 
 be trapped, they held a consultation as to " whether it would 
 be most prudent to trust to the houses which now rocked from 
 side to side with frequent and violent concussion as though 
 shaken from their very foundations, or fly to the open fields 
 where the calcined stones and cinders, though light indeed, yet 
 fell in large showers, and threatened destruction. In the choice 
 of dangers they resolved for the fields. . . . They went out 
 then having pillows tied upon their heads with napkins ; and 
 this was their whole defense against the storm of stones that 
 fell around them. . . . They thought proper to go farther 
 down upon the shore to see if they might safely put out to sea, 
 but found the waves still running extremely high and boisterous. 
 Then my uncle laying himself down upon a sail-cloth, which 
 
was spread for him, called twice for some cold water, which he 
 drank, when immediately the flames, preceded by a strong- whiff 
 of sulphur, dispersed the rest of the party, and obliged him to 
 rise. He raised himself up with the assistance of two of his 
 servants and instantly fell down dead, suffocated, as I conjec- 
 ture, by some gross and noxious vapor. ' ' 
 
 At the time of my visit in 1906, while standing on Monte 
 Somma, I also got a strong whiff of sulphur and found myself 
 conjecturing about the " gross and noxious vapor." 
 
 Up to that time gases from fumeroles and earth- cracks near 
 craters had been analyzed ; that is, we knew qualitatively in 
 a general way what gases sometimes escape in volcanic dis- 
 tricts ; but we did not know, and do not know yet, anything of 
 the quantity of the various gases, including water vapor, that 
 is discharged through any continuous period at the time of an 
 eruprion. 
 
 In 1858 Deville and Le Blanc published results of analyses of 
 gases, which indicated that the nature of the emanations from 
 a volcanic district varies with the time that elapses after the 
 beginning of an eruption ; that is, there is a relative decrease 
 of chlorine and sulphur gases and an increase of carbon di-ox- 
 ide ; but apparently no one has tried to learn if eruptions can 
 be predicted by observing if the reverse variations take place 
 as an eruption approaches. 
 
 Upon my return home I inquired of certain institutions organ- 
 ized for research if they would be interested in the study of 
 gases from craters, in taking lava temperatures, etc. The Car- 
 negie Institution of Washington was very much interested, and 
 since that time it has made some important studies on volca- 
 noes. In 1909, for the first time, the temperature of lava in a 
 crater was taken at Kilauea. Three years later, at the same 
 place, also for the first time, gas was withdrawn from a crater 
 for analysis. Since that time other volcanic districts have been 
 visited by members of the staff of the Geophysical Laboratory 
 and numerous samples of gases collected for analysis from 
 fumeroles and quiescent craters ; but I would not regard the 
 study of a volcano to have been seriously undertaken until its 
 
gases are sampled and analyzed automatically and continuously 
 and the results recorded on a dial, along with the temperature, 
 in the same way that these operations are carried out at chem- 
 ical and metallurgical works and at power plants. If we had 
 the continuous record of the carbon di-oxide, sulphur di-oxide, 
 hydrochloric acid, and water from a few craters from one erup- 
 tion to the next, as well as the continuous record of tempera- 
 ture, no one can predict what benefits might ensue. 
 
 Naturally enough the expense of installing the necessary 
 equipment for such work discourages the undertaking. Auto- 
 matic, or mechanical, gas-analyzers would be required and also 
 the necessary pipe to connect the apparatus with the volcanic 
 vent through which the gases could be drawn continously, and 
 the pipe would have to be made of fused silica or other refrac- 
 tory material. 
 
 After centuries of apparently no progress, a beginning has 
 been made at last. It was about 1912 that Ferret, by the use 
 of the microphone, in an Italian volcanic district was able to 
 predict an eruption and give timely warning of its approach. 
 In 1914 I found that a concrete base was being placed in the 
 Vesuvius observatory for the installation of the first seismograph 
 at that station, and Professor Malladra, the director, showed me 
 a temperature curve of the fumerole in the crater of Vesuvius 
 that he had made through a period of several years, proving 
 that the temperature was uniformly higher in winter than in 
 summer ; the higher temperature in winter being due, as he 
 said, to the water added by the increased rainfall of winter. 
 
 Philosophical speculation long dominated in the field of geol- 
 ogy. Aristotle taught that earthquakes were caused by the 
 generation of wind within the earth under the influence of the 
 warmth of the sun and the internal heat. From Aristotle to 
 Agricola is a leap of nearly nineteen centuries ; but we find 
 Agricola, who was the author of the first serious work on 
 mineralogy, as late as 1546 urging his mining students to study 
 philosophy so that they might " discern the origin, cause, and 
 nature of subterranean things ; for they will be able to dig out 
 the veins easily and advantageously and obtain more abundant 
 
8 
 
 results from their mining-." 3 Even Gottlob Werner, who fol- 
 lowed soon after Agricola, and for about forty years was the 
 great geological enthusiast at the Freiberg Mining- Acadamy, 
 and died only about a hundred years ago, taught that all rocks, 
 crystaline as well as non-crystaline, were precipitated from the 
 primeval ocean and followed in the same succession the world 
 over. He also believed that volcanoes resulted from the burn- 
 ing of subterranean beds of coal. 
 
 In the field of economic geology, as well as in other branches 
 of the subject, the development of the quantitative method has 
 been slow, but even with his limited technique the economic 
 geologist has been able to assist the miner in following his ore 
 through the vicissitudes of folding and faulting where the 
 deposit was bedded or in sheet-like form. He has also been able 
 to locate artesian water and to pick out favorable spots for pools 
 of petroleum. With the aid of the magnetometer, he has been 
 able to find and map concealed bodies of magnetite and also to 
 locate non-magnetic bodies of iron ore where these bodies occu- 
 pied a certain definite relation to magnetic beds that were them- 
 selves too lean in magnetite to constitute ore a method very 
 successfully applied in Michigan and elsewhere. He has been 
 able to predict with tolerable accuracy extensions of orebodies 
 where mineralization favors certain rocks in preference to 
 others, through his ability to identify the rocks and to deter- 
 mine the structure. His services have been in demand in war 
 as well as in peace. General Pershing had a geologist on his 
 staff in France, and through this branch of the service trenches, 
 dugouts, and other earthworks were placed favorably to avoid 
 troublesome rock-structures , especially water-bearing beds . The 
 geologist, indeed, is able to assist in practically all large under- 
 takings that involve operations in or on the materials of the 
 earth's crust. Tn agriculture, war, water-supply, fuel-supply, 
 road construction, and many other branches of engineering ; 
 in mineral production of all kinds, and especially ore produc- 
 tion ; and in his every sphere of activity, the value of his ser- 
 vice increases as his methods approach quantitative accuracy. 
 
 3 ' De Re Metallica, 1 Hoover's translation. 
 
As an illustration of the advantage of the quantitative method 
 as applied to ore-finding geology, let us consider briefly some 
 of the criteria for judging croppings of disseminated sulphide 
 deposits. If erosion has brought the surface down to or within 
 a few feet of the primary ore, the two important considerations 
 the grade of the ore and the size of the deposit become 
 comparatively simple. By a surficial examination, possibly 
 with some trenching, the grade of the ore and its areal exten- 
 sion are determined ; the depth only remains to be ascertained. 
 This resolves itself, so far as the geologist is able to assist, into 
 a problem of structural geology. 
 
 But let us suppose that oxidized croppings of unknown 
 depth over a large area are colored with limonite and show a 
 marked amount of sericitization, kaolinization, or silicification, 
 or all three combined, what can the geologist tell of the prob- 
 abilities of ore below ? Let us see what is the status of our 
 knowledge on the subject. 
 
 The literature on croppings is not extensive nor is it always 
 strictly scientific. Two characteristics are usually dwelt upon 
 as being of greatest importance : the color of the croppings 
 and the degree of silicification. We will consider for a moment 
 the first of these characteristics, the color of the limonite, and 
 take up for comparison what current technical literature has to 
 offer about Miami in this regard. 
 
 J. Parke Channing states that the cropping is stained red in 
 patches by iron oxide and only occasionally by small green 
 copper stains. 
 
 Ransome says that the largest orebodies at Miami ' ' are not 
 often found under those surface rocks that are most vividly 
 colored by copper compounds or iron oxides." 4 
 
 F. H. Probert states that " at Ray and Miami the color over 
 schist ore is pale chocolate-brown and copper silicate at the 
 surface." 5 
 
 Channing says the cropping is red in patches ; Ransome that 
 the reddest ground is not over the best ore ; and Probert that it 
 
 4 U. S. G. S. Bull. 529, paye 186. 
 
 5 'M. & S. P.', June 17, 1916. 
 
10 
 
 is a pale chocolate-brown. While these statements perhaps 
 cannot be strictly construed as conflicting-, yet they do not lead 
 unerringly to a conclusion. It is a very simple matter by means 
 of the Maxwell color-wheel to resolve a color into its elements 
 and to determine precisely the percentage of each of its com- 
 ponents. Practically all writers on this subject regard the color 
 as very important, yet they have not considered it sufficiently 
 important to make strictly accurate quantitative statements 
 regarding it. 
 
 By a careful study of the surface at Miami it has been found 
 that the croppings of the disseminated sulphides may be divided 
 into three areas, each having- its own peculiar color. On the 
 south side of the Pinto fault the up-thrust side of the fault 
 the color is lighter, almost suggesting: pink, with an occasional 
 copper stain. North of the fault, but still over the orebody, 
 the color is more distinctly red. Still farther north, beyond the 
 orebody and over pyritic ground, the red is still deeper in color. 
 In an effort to establish a quantitative basis on which to compare 
 these colors, I analyzed the colors of several specimens from 
 these two areas, respectively over ore and over pyrite. I found 
 that in both areas the color was composed of red, yellow, black, 
 and white ; but there was on the average a considerably higher 
 percentage of red, yellow, and white over the orebody than over 
 the poor ground ; in fact, there was twice as much white in the 
 color over the orebody as in that over poor ground, and four 
 times as much black in the poor ground as in the good ground. 
 While no definite and important conclusions can be drawn from 
 these few tests, even in one district, yet the trial suggests the 
 possibilities of the method and leads us to wonder what might 
 be the result if we could have such tests made on large numbers 
 of samples from many disseminated deposits. 
 
 As to the second characteristic, opinion seems to be practi- 
 cally unanimous that croppings of disseminated orebodies are 
 more highly silicious than similiar croppings of disseminated 
 sulphides poor in copper ; but quantitative statements on the 
 subject, I believe, have never been published. As an effort in 
 this direction, I examined carefully with the hand-glass about 
 
11 
 
 90 samples from Miami, about one-third from over the ore and 
 two-thirds from the pyritic non-orebearing ground, and esti- 
 mated as accurately as I could the content in quartz, having- in 
 mind that only the mineralization quartz was important. As a 
 result of this test I found that there was on an average nearly 
 twice as much quartz in samples from the orebearing ground as 
 in those from the non-orebearing ground. A number of deter- 
 minations on other characteristics of croppings were made, but 
 the examples given are sufficient to indicate that this is a prom- 
 ising: field for investigation. The importance of such quantita- 
 tive studies is apparent when we realize that it was probably 
 the lack of such a technique that resulted in failure of the 
 Miami company to obtain possession of what is now Inspiration 
 ground. 
 
 These examples of the very inadequate study of two charac- 
 teristics of croppings show how little is really known about 
 croppings, and suggest the importance of applying- every pos- 
 sible method of measurement to all the variable characters of 
 croppings to determine, if possible, the significance of the 
 variations. 
 
 As a possible aid to those who may wish to study croppings 
 in a quantitative way there is outlined below a method of map- 
 ping and note-taking, which I have used with considerable 
 satisfaction. By this method the degree of development of 
 numerous and oft-repeated characteristics may be recorded 
 rapidly (and in a roughly quantitative way) in a small space. 
 Suppose, for example, it is desired to record at frequent inter- 
 vals the following characteristics : 
 
 1. Texture of the rock, degree to which it is preserved. 
 
 2. Fractures, distance apart. 
 
 3. Kaolinization, intensity. 
 
 4. Silicification, general, intensity, 
 
 5. Quartz in veinlets, distance apart. 
 
 6. Limonite, soaked into kaolin, paint on joints, pseudomor- 
 phous after pyrite. 
 
 7. Limonite in veinlets, distance apart. 
 
12 
 
 8. Limonite, disseminated, frequency. 
 
 9. Sericitization, intensity. 
 
 10. Copper stain in kaolin, intensity. 
 
 11. Copper stain in veinlets, distance apart. 
 
 By this method each characteristic is represented by a line 
 which cuts a side of a small square or other polygon, always in 
 the same position with reference to a beginning- corner. The 
 degree to which the characteristic is developed is represented 
 by the depth to which its line penetrates the polyg-on. If the 
 line is wholly within the polyg-on, the charateristic represented 
 by it is little developed. If the line cuts the periphery, the 
 characteristic is moderately developed ; and if the line lies out- 
 side the polyg-on, it is highly developed. The first character 
 recorded is represented by a line set diag-onally at the begin- 
 ning: corner of the polygon ; all other lines are set at right angles 
 to the sides of the figure, and are read clock- wise, each line, by 
 its position, always representing- the same characteristic in any 
 one district. The system may be changed from one district to 
 another by using: the lines to represent other characteristics 
 which it is desired to record. 
 
 For example, this symbol Ji 1 T. means, that 
 
 1. The texture of the rock is partly gone. 
 
 2. The fractures are, say, from ] /2 to 2 in. apart. 
 
 3. It is partly kaolinized. 
 
 4. Slight silicification. 
 
 5. Quartz veinlets from 1 /2 to 2 in. apart. 
 
 6. Limonite soaked into kaolin. 
 
 7. Limonite veinlets more than, say, 2 in. apart. 
 
 8. Limonite disseminated in specks, say, 25 per square inch. 
 
 9. A litte sericite. 
 
 10. A little copper stain. 
 
 11. No veinlets of copper. 
 
 By this method notes that would require half a page in the 
 ordinary note-book may be recorded in less than a quarter-inch 
 
13 
 
 square. This has been found useful, not only in recording 
 information on surface maps, but also in note-taking" under- 
 ground. From these notes, maps may be made to show areas 
 on which the various characteristics predominate, singly, or in 
 any desired combination. 
 
 When we consider how much is still unknown regarding- the 
 occurrence of ores it seems truly surprising that the service of 
 the geologist is so greatly in demand. This demand, however, 
 is too often the last resort. In too many instances the geologist 
 is only permitted to serve as the oxygen-tank to the expiring 
 enterprise. 
 
 Several years ago, but long after the principles of artesian 
 water were well undestood, one of our largest Southern cities 
 hopefully sank what they expected to be an artesian well near 
 the centre of the great granite laccolith upon which the city was 
 built. Several years later the governing board of a leading 
 uuiversity, ignoring its department of geology, which was kept in 
 ignorance of the proceeding, spent a large sum of money sinking 
 for artesian water in a glacial sand plain that lies on an impos- 
 sible complex of ancient crystalline rocks. The humblest assist- 
 ant in the department, receiving the princely salary of f 500 
 per annum, would have lost his position had he not known 
 enough to avert such a loss of money if his advice had been 
 asked. 
 
 In the coalfield of southern West Virginia, where the struct- 
 ure is unusually flat, a mining company wishing to open a coal 
 seam on that side of the mountain opposite the place of discov- 
 ery of the coal, sent their engineer with a wye level to run an 
 exact level around the mountain. After many days of cutting 
 out thick underbrush the line was completed, an adit was made 
 through the heavy talus, but no coal was found. A member of 
 the U. S. Geological Survey came that way and discovered near 
 the base of the mountain an excellent horizon- marker (a thin bed 
 of fossiliferous limestone), which, traced around the mountain, 
 revealed an unexpected flexure in the beds a deformation 
 entirely unsuspected by the engineer. In this instance the 
 
14 
 
 geolgist accomplished in a few hours what the engineer had 
 failed to. do after several days. 
 
 The preventable waste in exploitation is enormous, even with 
 the present inadequate technique of the geologist. Often do 
 we find, for example, mountains and ridges shot through with 
 barren tunnels for the purpose of tapping at great depths the 
 downward extension of paltry outcropping veins at the top, 
 which could have been proved worthless by a little serious work 
 on the outcrop. Some of this waste can be charged to the 
 over-enthusiastic and visionary prospector ; some to the pro- 
 moter who must have the appearance of important work con- 
 tinued so as to postpone the fatal day, while he sells stock ; but 
 much, unfortunately, is chargeable to organizations composed 
 of men of honor and intelligence. Not only should this waste 
 be stopped, but much of that which is now conceded to be un- 
 avoidable could also be prevented by improvement in the tech- 
 nique of geology through properly directed research ; and this 
 research to be effective must give careful attention to every 
 minute detail. 
 
"" 
 
 OV ERDUe '.00 ON THE SEV^r OURTH 
 
 ~ >i TH DAY 
 
Stockton, Calif. 
 
 PAT. JAN. 21. 1908 
 
 731205 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY